by FORMER boxing world champion Jeff Fenech will be the guest speaker at the 31st South Pacific Brewery Sports Awards night on May 27 at the Crown Hotel in Port Moresby.
Dubbed ‘Marrickville Mauler’ Fenech (29-3-1, 21KOs) won titles in three weight divisions (bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight) in a span of 20 fights from April 1985 to March 1988.
Fenech said he was looking forward to sharing his experiences during the award night where various athletes, national federation representatives and other stakeholders would attend.
Some highlights of Fenech’s career include:
- CAPTURING the International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight (53.5kg) title on April 26, 1985, in his seventh fight, with a one-sided, ninth-round technical knockout (TKO) of champion Satoshi Shingaki of Thailand. He defended the bantamweight crown three times, including a rematch win over Shingaki (TKO 4) and a 14th-round TKO win over 1984 Olympic champion Steve McCrory of the United States.
- FRENCH won his second title on May 8, 1987. Fenech attacked World Boxing Council (WBC) super-bantamweight (55kg) champion Samart Payakaroon from the opening bell and turned in another signature performance. He steadily wore down the champion before the referee stepped in and stopped the contest in the fourth round.
- IN 1988 he was forced to move up to featherweight (57kg). On March 7, 1988, he weathered an early barrage from Puerto Rico’s Victor Callejas, himself a former champion, and captured his third world title via 10th-round TKO.
- BY defeating Callejas for the vacant WBC featherweight crown, Fenech became the first undefeated fighter to win titles in three divisions.
Throughout his career, Fenech was saddled with brittle hands, which caused him great pain.
Citing the pain in his hands, Fenech hung up his gloves after defeating Marcos Villasana in his third defense of the featherweight belt, on April 8, 1988. But the retirement was short-lived. Following surgery to his hands, Fenech returned to the ring that November with a 12-round decision over Mario Martinez.
He returned to the United States, the scene of his last defeat, for his challenge of WBC super featherweight champion Azumah Nelson of Ghana – also known as ‘The Professor’, a man now considered one of the greatest African boxers of all time. On June 28, 1991, in Las Vegas, Fenech attacked Nelson, a well-schooled boxer who himself was a two-division champion, from the opening bell.
Fenech seemed to dominate the fight and often had Nelson pinned against the ropes.
In Round 12, Fenech staggered the champion but was unable to finish him off. The Australian was shocked and heartbroken when the fight was declared a draw. He attempted two more comebacks after this controversial bout, but both ended inside the distance. He retired in 1996.
More than 30 years later after being controversially denied the super-featherweight belt, Fenech was awarded the strap retrospectively at a WBC convention in Acapulco, Mexico, last year.
